Smartphone Buyer's Guide: What are the choices on my carrier?

I recently posted the 2009 Holiday Guide for smartphones and in that guide posted about just one smartphone from each carrier. There are more selections than just one though and now that most all of the announcements for the holidays have been made I thought you might like to know what the choices from each carrier are, along with the subsidized and non-subsidized prices so you can make an informed choice. Most people find a carrier that works for them with the best coverage in their local area so they look first to their carrier for a smartphone rather than looking for the a smartphone and then switching carriers.

I recently posted the 2009 Holiday Guide for smartphones and in that guide posted about just one smartphone from each carrier. I also posted my Holiday Guide for feature phones and included the two I thought are best on each carrier. There are more smartphone selections than just one and now that most all of the announcements for the holidays have been made I thought you might like to know what the choices from each carrier are, along with the subsidized and non-subsidized prices so you can make an informed choice. Most people find a carrier that works for them with the best coverage in their local area so they look first to their carrier for a smartphone rather than looking for the a smartphone and then switching carriers. You will find the smartphone choices from the four largest nationwide carriers, but keep in mind there are also some rather large localized carriers in the Northeast and Southern regions with excellent smartphone choices.

The prices you will see in this article are from the carrier. If you are new to a carrier or adding another line you will find excellent prices on Amazon.com and other online vendors.

Verizon Wireless

Verizon has had a rather weak lineup of smartphones for most of 2009 with their primary focus on high end BlackBerry models. They recently added some very good Windows Mobile and Google Android devices to their offerings so Verizon Wireless customers have some of the best choices this holiday season. You will find smartphones with keyboards and those focused on touch only so something should appeal to you that allows you to stay with Verizon Wireless, or even join them to obtain one of their new Google Android devices.

Verizon does have the most expensive data and voice plans, but they also have the most coverage of any wireless carrier. The HTC Touch Pro2 has been sold out for much of the last month so may be difficult to find. The HTC DROID ERIS and Motorola DROID are the hottest devices at the moment and you will see commercials for both on television and in print advertising. If you travel internationally, make sure to look for a phone that is GSM-capable too.

AT&T

The largest GSM carrier in the US is AT&T and the Apple iPhone has definitely been the dominant smartphone for them over these last couple of years. Apple changed the face of the smartphone with the original iPhone and has updated the offerings twice with the iPhone 3GS the current device available on AT&T. I was with AT&T for a couple of years and found their data plan to be decent, but their voice network let me down way too often so I had to drop them and stick with T-Mobile.

Sprint

As you can see below Sprint has some wonderful smartphone offerings and was the leader in the various operating systems until some of the newest devices were announced running Windows Mobile and Google Android. Sprint has the most affordable unlimited plans and their data plans include features that normally have extra fees with Verizon and AT&T, such as voice guided navigation, wireless television, and sports services. I would be all over a Sprint HTC Hero if I had better Sprint coverage, but not every carrier can give all of us full coverage and this just isn't the carrier for my area.

T-Mobile

T-Mobile is the smallest of the four major carriers and they just started rolling out their 3G data network over the last few months. They operate their 3G network on a frequency different than AT&T (1700 MHz) so devices are not cross compatible for high speed data. T-Mobile launched the first US-based Google Android device last year with the T-Mobile G1 and has focused on BlackBerry and Google Android smartphone offerings with some Windows Mobile updates just recently being released.

T-Mobile also has their UMA/Hotspot @Home service available that lets you make and receive calls via your home WiFi network to ensure you have a good solid signal in your house with unlimited calling support. T-Mobile also just rolled out their European-style plans where you can sign up for month-to-month service with no carrier contracts.